Dear Sir, some Tory MPs are reported to be less than keen to undertake training designed to identify and eliminate their "unconscious bias", particularly in the areas of race and white privilege. The BBC began such training for their own staff mid-2019 and it has failed badly it seems because they, our national broadcaster, fail to recognise their own serious shortcomings in these areas.

When lockdown was first ordered, my disappointment was tempered by my hope that the BBC's TV output would change - certainly in their afternoon and evening schedules because they would have to cater for a new dynamic. No such luck. From transmitting daily 4 hrs of aged semi-final snooker highlights pre-lockdown, they escalated that fare - almost unbelievably in one day - to 14 hrs across all 3 TV platforms.

Their PM programming scarcely changed. No matter I thought, this was an opportunity for their Arts and music output to improve (from endless repeats of "Top Of The Pops). Wrong again and here's where their bias in this area is easily recognised. Jazz is America's only original art form and it's roots are squarely rooted in the ancestry of black African (US) slaves. It's huge influence on popular (white) music is indisputable. The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and Eric Clapton to name a few, all acknowledge that blues (ie jazz) was their primary influence. So the lack of any jazz on the BBC TV by way of televised performances (in this most opportune of times) is - to this eye - the result of it's unconscious racial bias. It is magnificent black music and the BBC choose to totally ignore it. Many recognise it's worth however: witness this week's Desert Island Discs guest, the British born Booker prize winner Bernadine Evaristo, who chose part of Keith Jarret's 'Koln Concert' as her indispensable choice of disc.

However, Auntie did find time to air on BBC4 (ostensibly their Arts Channel) "Lost home movies of Nazi Germany" and film of how the children of Himmler and Goring were muddling along nowadays. They also find time to over - feature people playing music written by old white men in their Proms series. Although this is not the only aspect of the BBC's unconscious racial bias, it's an important and worthwhile starting point . They're in desperate need of a jazz ambassador and the sooner the better,

yours sincerely,

Roger Gough,

Minchinhampton,